Attack On The World Trade Centre example essay topic

America under Siege... One the greatest bastions of freedom and democracy in our world is now under siege by cowardly forces. The terrorist attack on the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon is not only an attack against the US, but an attack against the entire Western civilised world. There is nothing more despised and cowardly then a terrorist attack on innocent bystanders, but yet it is still one of the most effective weapons in the world today. It has been used before and will probably be used again, as we see from the attacks in the US.

This is the warfare of the new Millennium. No country can be prepared for terrorist attacks and defend against them, especially not for one in such scale as the attack on the US. When seeing the pictures on CNN for the first time, I first believed that this was a hoax, a movie or something like that, but soon the fearful truth hit me; this was for real! I have read things like this in books and seen them in the movies, but I for one, did not believe that this would happen. In 1996, Tom Clancy wrote a book called "Executive orders", where he described a scenario which is not so far from what happened on Tuesday; a plane crashes into Capitol Hill, killing the entire Congress and the president of the USA.

You can say that Clancy almost predicted that something like this would happen, and so did the intelligence community. Already in 1993 a secret Pentagon report called "Terror 2000" described possible terrorist scenarios against American interests, and in fact, several of those scenarios have come true indeed. America under siege. I remember reading Tom Clancy's number one seller; "Executive orders", and thinking that it would be so cool if I could experience something like that. Well, I did, and the rest of the world did on the 11. of September 2001. And I realised how wrong I was when thinking that something like that would be cool to experience.

Tom Clancy starts his book with a poem written by Colleen C. Hitchcock, called "the Ascension", and I think that it is very appropriate for this occasion: Ascension And if I go, while you " re still here... Know that I live on, vibrating to a different measure -- behind a thin veil you cannot see through. You will not see me, so you must have faith. I wait for the time when we can soar together again, -- both aware of each other. Until then, live your life to its fullest. And when you need me, just whisper my name in your heart, ...

I will be there. Copyright 1989 by Colleen C. Hitchcock Everything about this terrorist attack was symbolic. The terrorist wanted to show the US that they were vulnerable in their own homes, even though the US is the leading superpower in the world. The terrorists hijacked 4 planes, where 3 of them crashed into civilian targets in New York and Washington DC, while the fourth one crashed in a deserted area in Somerset County, PA.

The twin towers of the World Trade Centre before the terrorist attack. The terrorist chose targets with great symbolic value, but the buildings were also important business and military centres. As the FBI started gathering evidence, they realised that this was a huge operation, which required a lot of manpower and resources to pull off. This was something which wasn't planned over night.

Every target was carefully selected, and, as mentioned, had an important symbolic value. At 8.45 am, the first plane crashes into one of the towers of the World Trade Centre, a symbol of pure Western capitalism and wealth. The attack on the World Trade Centre was an attack direct into the heart of capitalism. It is reported that about 50.000 people worked there, and most of them were stock exchangers. This has been a severe blow to the American economy. The newest numbers indicates that there are over 4.700 people dead.

It will be very hard for America to replace the economic expertise lost in that attack. Approximately 20 min later another plane crashed into the other tower. This was co-ordinated so that every TV-camera was directed to the towers when the second plane crashed. The terrorist attack on the WTC has also paralysed the New York stock-exchange, it has been closed and the back-up stock exchange on Long Island, N.Y., will be operational sometime next week. American Airlines Flight 175 crashing into one of the towers. When I saw the twin towers collapse, one name came into my mind; Nostradamus, a French prophet who lived between 1503-1566.

He had many prophesies which he wrote down and a good part of his prophesies is about Armageddon, or the end of the world. In one of his quatrains he writes: Out of the country of Greater Arabia Shall be born a strong master of Mohammed... He will enter Europe wearing a blue turban. He will be the terror of mankind. Never more horror. Here, Nostradamus says that a man from Greater Arabia (Bin Ladin, the main suspect, is from Egypt) will lead his forces on an invasion through Europe.

This invasion will start a third war that will be far worse than all the other wars put together. The sky will burn at forty-five degrees. Fire approaches the great new city. By fire he will destroy their city, A cold and cruel heart, Blood will pour, Mercy to none The falling of the twin towers... New York lies approximately at latitude 45 degrees, and he has also written about the falling of the twins towers. Scary, don't you think?

At 9.43 am, about one hour after the two planes crash into the World Trade Centre, a third plane, American Airlines Flight 77, crashes into Pentagon, the heart of the US military. But 15 min before this plane crash, a car-bomb exploded outside the State Department. This shows that these attacks were very carefully planned and timed. It is estimated that that there are about 200 dead, including the 64 people on the plane, at the Pentagon. This terrorist attack is something which has angered the military.

The Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld hinted about military retaliation when addressing the troops. As quoted by CNN: 'It is my duty as head of this department to tell you that more -- much more -- will be asked of you in the weeks and months ahead. This is especially true of those who are in the field. We face powerful and terrible enemies, enemies we intend to vanquish so that moments of horror like yesterday will be stopped,' he said. So far the only military movements have been defensive once, two aircraft carriers have been ordered to patrol the east-coast accompanied by several destroyers and frigates. The National Guard has launched F-14 Tomcats as intersection fighters and F-16 as a rial cover over New York and Washington DC.

In this essay I have only given a very brief and short account for what happened on Tuesday, 11. of September. For more details, please visits CNN's special section: web: I have attached a chronology of the terror, which took place on Tuesday. This could also be found at the above Internet address. Used sources: Nostradamus's padommer (2000 ars-) Fahrenheit Forlag 1999 Responsible publisher: Pantagruel Forlag AS The interactive CNN: web.